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Snrith Gulch
| partof = Sierran Royal Air Force and Brazorian Air Force | location = , West Colorado, Sierra | coordinates = | image = Snrith Gulch Henderson Tower.jpg | image_size = | caption = The Henderson Tower, an entrance to the Snrith Gulch underground facilities | type = Joint military research facility | code = | built = March 30, 1961 – September 18, 1965 | builder = Royal Army Corps of Engineers and Royal Surveyors' Corps | materials = | height = | used = 1965–Present | demolished = | condition = | ownership = Governments of Sierra and Brazoria | open_to_public = No; maximum security restricted area | controlledby = Western Anglo-American Joint Air Command | garrison = | current_commander = | commanders = | occupants = | battles = | events = | IATA = LWD | ICAO = KLWD | FAA = | TC = | LID = | GPS = | WMO = | elevation = | r1-number = 5L/23R | r1-length = | r1-surface = Asphalt/Concrete | r2-number = 16L/34R | r2-length = | r2-surface = Asphalt/Concrete | airfield_other_label = Location | airfield_other = Elkmount Airfield, Denver, Brazoria }}Snrith Gulch ( : LWD, : KLWD, RAA : LWD), officially known as the International Joint Military Research Base Leadwater, is a joint military research facility owned and operated by the Sierran Royal Air Force and the Brazorian Air Force, located near , West Colorado, Sierra in of the . It includes the Red Mountain Center, a country retreat which hosts international diplomatic meetings between Sierran and Brazorian government officials, as well as other invited dignitaries from other countries during special occasions; Elkmount Airfield, a detached military airfield due 27 miles east across the Brazorian side of the international border near Denver; and the Pettingell Air Force Observatory, a research facility complex that includes a space observatory and a satellite communications center. It is classified as maximum security restricted area by both the Sierran Royal Armed Forces and the Brazorian Armed Forces, and details of its operations and research are highly classified. Built and completed in 1965 during the , Snrith Gulch played an instrumental role in modernizing Anglo-American aerial technology and nuclear development. It continues to be one of the most important strategic installations in both Sierra and Brazoria, and has often been regarded as the primary candidate headquarters in for both nation's governments due to its relatively isolated and insular geography, and high-security internal defenses. Officially, the military facility is used to conduct research on reconnaissance aircraft, missile technology, radar technology, and provide aerial support and command. Since 2010, it has been designated as the center for the Western Anglo-American Joint Air Command, a designed to protect air sovereignty for Sierra, Brazoria, Rainier, and southern Superior, and provide support for the broader air command network in the Conference of American States. Much of the base's laboratory and bunker facilities are located underground. Snrith Gulch includes the 22-mile tunnel between the main complex and the Elkmount Airfield in Brazoria, which is only accessible from within the general restricted area. It also houses residential and recreational facilities for the base's personnel and staff at the Red Mountain Center. The Center is notable for its use for high-profile meetings during state visits by foreign leaders and officials. Since the facility is jointly owned by Sierra and Brazoria, the two governments often host meetings with one another at the location, and as partnering hosts for international guests. Since 2010, the biannual CAS Convocation takes place at the Red Mountain Center during the second week of June where the heads of state and government from all members of the CAS are invited to join and participate. Snrith Gulch also conducts space research and satellite imagery at the Pettingell Air Force Observatory. Due to its high security and the sensitive nature of the facility, Snrith Gulch has been the subject of conspiracy theories and urban legends, ranging from claims of to harboring and at the site. The Sierran and Brazorian governments did not officially acknowledge the base, disclose the name of the facility, and declassify its purpose until 2006, referring to the facility in the shorthand form as the "Leadwater Base", although its common name, the "Snrith Gulch" appeared as a codename (in reference to the Pacific Northwest cryptid) for the area on official surveying maps for years prior to the official acknowledgment. After the official acknowledgment of the base, it has been utilized for a number of widely publicized events involving international leaders. Prior to this, the base was only used strictly for meetings between Sierran and Brazorian officials, often only for military and internal administrative purposes. Geography Although it is officially referred to as "International Joint Military Research Base Leadwater", it is registered as the of simply, "Leadwater", by the K.S. Royal Bureau of Census. Unofficial maps refer to the base by its common name, Snrith Gulch. The base covers 30 square miles of land and restricted airspace, and is primarily situated at in the in unincorporated land of , Western Colorado, Sierra. The main underground complex is located underneath the slopes of Red Mountain, whilst aboveground facilities including the Red Mountain Center are located on a leveled area just north of Bard Peak and Mount Parnassus. The Pettingell Air Force Observatory is located about 4 miles southwest of the main complex on the northeast side of Pettingell Mountain, which can be seen from the nearby community of Loveland on clear days. The Elkmount Airfield is located 22 miles east of the main complex in Denver, Brazoria, or about 2 miles east of the Sierran–Brazorian international border, The base is located at a elevation of 11,307 feet (3,446 m) and sits on the eastern side of the . It lies approximately 3 miles northwest from the junction between the limited-access K.S. Route 444 and the publicly navigable Interprovincial 70. Although direct access to the road is possible through the connection with K.S. Route 444, the section of the highway that runs through the base is closed to the public past the town of . An alternate detour route leads traffic away from the base, beneath Mount Eva, towards . Along the boundaries of the restricted area are reinforced, fortified walls with barbs and spikes, as well as posted signs warning civilians of the restricted nature of the area and the warning that any trespassers may be meant with lethal force. The area is continuously patrolled by security and surveillance. Authorized vehicles may continue up the restricted-access road, which transverses the pass, along difficult terrain, with a series of and steep (6.3%) on both sides at the southern rung of the pass. Facilities Main chambers According to a declassified document released by the Royal Surveyors' Corps, the total square footage of the underground facilities was 550,137 (12.62 acres or 51,126 sq. meters), making it one of the largest underground structures in Sierra. It includes over 110 individual rooms and chambers, four wings, and four main arterial hallways, and three floors, including five shaft elevators leading down to a cavern shaft excavated below the mountain with a tunnel of undisclosed, indeterminate dimensions or exits. The main underground complex is built below approximately 2,000 feet of granite, and supported by a system of springs designed to protect the facility from sudden movements, such as those caused by earthquakes or explosions. It is designed to withstand an (EMP) and also has defenses against nuclear explosions and fallout. The main chambers consist of a central command room (the headquarters of the Western Anglo-American Joint Air Command); laboratory rooms including those that handle biologically or chemically hazardous materials; bunker rooms for military personnel and staff; two cafeterias; a medical office with certified surgeons on standby; a fitness room; a sauna and swimming pool; weapons and ammunitions storage room; suites for higher-ranking officials; and a garden which grows an array of fruits and vegetables. The underground facility is capable of sustaining a population of over 1,200 people, with at least 5 years worth of supplies and food stocked at any given time, as required by the Federal Master Contingency Plan. There is a master suite known as the Sovereign Room, which was officially built and intended to be the personal room for the Queen and the Royal Family in the event of a crisis. Unofficially, the room is used to store cleaning supplies and archival material. Access to the chambers can be done through four entrances, the most prominent being from the elevator descending from the Henderson Tower on the eastern foothills of Red Mountain. Intermediary rooms, furnished with blast doors designed to endure nuclear s contain a network of valves built with unique filters that can capture and remove airborne chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear contaminants. Military security personnel are also posted at every overground tower entrance. Red Mountain Center The Red Mountain Center is an aboveground complex consisting of three main buildings which sit to the east of the main underground facilities on an artificially flattened basin just north of Bard Peak and Mount Parnassus, and west of Silver Plume Mountain. The Mountain Center includes the Village, a number of apartments and cabins, which surrounds the main center building, known as "The Lodge". The Lodge is a two story building with an underground tunnel that connects it directly to the underground base. It contains a reception room, a number of boardrooms and offices housing the administrative personnel of the Western Anglo-American Joint Air Command and other military organizations from both Sierra and Brazoria respectively. In addition, it features an entertainment hall with eight bowling alleys, a movie theater, a cafeteria and bar, a ballroom, a fitness center, a spa and sauna, and a petting zoo. There are also suite rooms for overnight guests, reserved for high-ranking dignitaries including the Sierran and Brazorian heads of state and government respectively. There are two helipads on the Red Mountain Center grounds, which are capable of docking five standard helicopters on standby each. The Red Mountain Center also contains an adjacent four-level parking structure and additional parking spaces, as well as maintenance building units and energy generating stations. An internal police station and military outpost are also present near the heavily fortified center, and include a series of gates designed to prevent trespassers who managed to evade detection upon entering in the restricted area's periphery boundaries. Elkmount Airfield Elkmount Airfield is a two-runway airfield with a control station and aircraft hangars located across the international border in unincorporated area of the Denver Metropolitan Province in Brazoria. It is also an aircraft manufacturing plant, used by Brazorian Air Force, the Sierran Royal Air Force, the Brazorian Commission for Space Exploration (CSE), and the Sierran Royal Aeronautics and Aerospace Administration (R3A). The airfield contains facilities purposed to assembling and compiling aircraft components and engines, and includes laboratory facilities dedicated to provide design, engineering, pre-production, production, modification, flight testing, servicing, refueling, and repairing for a number of military jets and other aircraft. Several private aerospace contractors have an established presence at the Airfield, including Overstars, which maintains a plant on the site. The base is considered an extension of the nearby in , which is home to the 420nd Space Wing, a combined Brazorian and Sierran air squadron under the purview of the Conference of American Force Combined Air Force. The airfield serves the Denver Metropolitan Province and vicinity, with over 32,000 active duty personnel assigned to it as their home base. Several dozen tenant units are also on-site. Since Elkmount Airfield itself is part of Snrith Gulch, it is subject to the same restriction level of maximum security. Only authorized personnel and defense contractors who have undergone appropriate levels of security clearance may enter the premises, and access is heavily controlled at traffic stops. In 2007, two years after the existence of Snrith Gulch was officially acknowledged by the Brazorian government, new warning signs with stern wording were posted throughout the perimeter of the airfield, attracting major controversy and widespread media attention. In 2010, a 25-year old civilian male of Brazorian citizenship attempted to breach the airfield and was quickly apprehended. A single warning shot was fired near his feet to which he fell to the ground in surrender. He had ran about 10 metres into the security perimetre before he was intercepted by nearby security personnel. Pettingale Observatory The Pettingale Observatory is the most recent addition to the Snrith Gulch, with construction completed in 1981. It was built to take advantage of the night sky, unhindered by local at the high altitude and considerable distance away from the largest city in the area, Denver. The Observatory includes four different telescopes, including the Deep Space Survey Telescope (DSST). It is staffed by the Brazorian Commission for Space Exploration and the Sierran Royal Aeronautics and Aerospace Administration (R3A) and conducts research on space exploration and mapping, as well as provide support for Anglo-American space communication. It also houses communications line with non-military satellites, tasked with the role of satellite imagery and logistics. Unofficial sources and whistleblowers have asserted that the Pettingale Observatory is also dedicated towards the search for extraterrestrial life, including the identification of distant planets suitable for sustaining human life. Another commonly purported goal of the Observatory is to discover viable means for advanced space exploration and space colonization. Officially, the Observatory does not mention any of these objectives, although internal documents indicate that these fields of research fall within the acceptable purview of the research facility. Support area Snrith Gulch is supported by a power generating plant, heating and cooling system, continuous surveillance system, a water supply, and an on-site medical team capable of performing emergency medical procedures ranging from surgeries to decontamination. There is also a large storage of fuel, food, and supplies in the underground facilities, and an undisclosed number of vehicles and aircraft on standby which may be used in an emergency. The base is also capable of communicating with other nearby bases for support. The 89th Command and Control Squadron is responsible for system maintenance and engineering reliability at the facility, and have their own outpost located near the main complex. History After , the conflict altered the geopolitical landscape of the world, shifting the leading, dominant power from the European continent to Anglo-America. The emerging situation prompted the Anglo-American states to push towards closer cooperation and integration, which led to the creation of the Conference of American States, a supranational union that sought to collectivize the Anglo-American states' economies, laws, trade, and people under a confederation-like umbrella. Both Brazoria and Sierra, located in Western Anglo-America, had already shared a history of amicable relations, and both governments were initially skeptical towards joining the Conference, with Brazoria not joining until 1950, and Sierra not joining until 1965. The two states fostered close ties as neighbors, and talks for coordinating militaries together and sharing a common defense policy, not unlike those later undertaken with CAS and . Plans for a joint military facility had already existed since World War II during Sierra and Brazoria's participation in the . Talks for a shared base continued into the 1950s, and numerous locations were selected as possible candidates for a major base that fulfilled this mutual desire. After narrowing down the choices to a location in New Mexico and in Western Colorado, the latter was chosen because of its insular location, relative isolation, and rugged terrain, which was ideal for a high-security, confidential military site. The Brazorian side of the Rockies would be ideal for testing out aircraft, while the main complex itself would be located further up the mountains on the Sierran side. The classified plan was dubbed "Operation Leadwater", and this name would later be used to refer to the base officially. Construction for a military research facility in the Rockies was approved by the Parliament of Sierra in 1959, although the details of its operations were withheld from public information. Groundwork began in 1961 after Parliament allocated over $70 billion in funds to support the project. The Brazorian government also assisted in financing the construction of the base, and developed the Elkmount Airfield on its territory across the border from the main complex site. Research and official uses Aviation research is the official and central purpose of the facility. This includes the development and testing of the latest and most advanced forms of aircraft, which are flight-tested and built at the Elkmount Airfield. The aircraft designs the Snrith Gulch research team developed during the 1960s included the , , , , and the . In the 1970s, as Brazoria led the Anglo-American nations in space research in the West's space race against the Soviet Union, Snrith Gulch worked on an entire new class of aircraft capable of subsonic speeds, stealth detection, and combat effectiveness at night. Security Throughout the perimeter, a highly reinforced, barbed double-fence runs the entire length of the restricted area, and includes posted signs warning would-be trespassers to leave the area promptly. There are security surveillance cameras posted every 10 meters, capable of activating remotely upon detecting movement within a 50 feet radius. In addition, most sections are routinely patrolled or passed by security personnel, and more vulnerable areas (those closer to public roads) have posted security forces on camouflaged mounts. All access points to the base are heavily guarded, with traffic stops arranged about two miles before the actual entrance. Authorized persons must show proof of identification and a written writ from the installation commander indicating they have the security clearance to access the facility. All non-military visitors, including civilian government officials, are subject to screening and body search prior to proceeding. All technology capable of sending or receiving outside communications, recording images or videos, and other items such as knives, weapons, and notebooks are expressly forbidden and will be confiscated and held for the entire duration of the individual's stay at the facility. UFO and other conspiracy theories alien is an alleged alien kept captive at Snrith Gulch]] Similar to the Clark counterpart of Area 51, Snrith Gulch's secretive nature, connection to classified aircraft research, prominence in collaboration between Sierran and Brazorian governments, alleged disappearances, and numerous reports of unusual phenomena around the area have fueled by and others. Most conspiracies focus on the underground facilities at Snrith Gulch, although some also place importance at the Red Mountain Center and the Elkmount Airfield, both of which are also part of the base and are heavily protected from public access. Popular claims include the use of and on kidnapped test subjects, often orphaned children or homeless people; storage, examination, and reverse engineering of crashed alien spacecraft; interaction and imprisonment of extraterrestrial beings; the development of advanced technology including and ; and -related activities among world leaders; practice of ; development of exotic weapons such as direct-energy beams; breeding supermen through and , including the use of cloning techniques; and the study and captivity of cryptids including the Snrith and glower goblin alien. In 2009, an anonymous Brazorian amateur filmmaker, purporting to be a soldier stationed at Elkmount Airfield, made a series of three short videos in the video-sharing platform which claimed to show footage captured in the underground base at Snrith Gulch. The first and second videos focused primarily on extraterrestrial life; the first claimed to show footage of an extraterrestrial being undergoing , and the second claimed to show a UFO being reverse-engineered. The third video, the one which caused the series to go viral, purportedly shows a hallway lined with captured, encased s, including among them specimens of the famous , Snrith, and . While the videos were quickly called out as fake by the mainstream media, the films continue to hold a significant amount of followers and "true believers" who claim that the media's dismissal of the footage is a state-sponsored attempt to cover up the true nature of the underground facilities. Following the official disclosure and acknowledgment of the base's existence by the Sierran and Brazorian governments in 2006, Snrith Gulch has continued to attract interest by conspiracy theorists. Although some UFO claims near the area have since been debunked as prototypes of aircraft being tested at the base, reports of UFO sightings and other strange phenomena have persisted and stories of such claims have even become a staple mainstay in Anglo-American entertainment and documentaries. In popular culture Snrith Gulch has become a prominent fixture in Anglo-American culture due to its connection with extraterrestrial life and conspiracy theories. It has been the subject of various films, television shows, songs, books, and other forms of medium in the past few decades of its existence. Film Television Music *Sierran rapper Thomas Winslow has promoted conspiracy theories surrounding Snrith Gulch to his fanbase through his social media and music. In spring 2018, he claimed he was visited by law enforcement who informed him to take down online posts relating to the conspiracies. He further claimed that he was being monitored and by the government due to his comments. Literature *Jack Kreyling's Beneath the Radar science fiction-mystery series deals heavily with Snrith Gulch and other secret locations, and includes the base as the setting for several of its books. *Continentalist author Samuel A. Warren's A More Perfect Union mentions Snrith Gulch as the center of the New World Order government and site of extensive human rights abuses. Video games Other *Sierran-Brazorian fast food chain restaurant Crashburger refers to its secret menu as "Snrith Gulch" and features the glower alien, an alien strongly associated with the base, on its logo, marketing, products, and merchandising. See also *Brazoria–Sierra relations *Sierran Royal Air Force *List of military installations in Sierra *Brazorian Air Force *List of military installations in Brazoria Category:Kingdom of Sierra Category:Brazoria Category:Military of Sierra